Glass Heart

The lab suddenly sprang back to life, lights clicking on one by one, the computers humming once again with activity. At the far end of the room the door to the garage slowly started to lift and open. A car Scarlett didn’t recognize drove into the lab and parked at the very end of the line of cars in the room. The Mark VII came flying in behind it and landed near the desk on a panel cut into the floor that looked like it had been designed just for the Mark. Scarlett got to her feet, having sat bored in the chair since she’d finished cleaning the wound on her arm. The alcohol made her tired but the guilt plaguing her had kept her from sleeping during the two hours she’d been trapped with nothing to do in the lab.

“Where’s Pepper?” Scarlett asked Happy, looking past the battered Mark VII suit as it approached. Guilt churned renewed in her stomach at the sight of the damage that had been done to the Iron Man suit. She was mad enough at Tony, regardless, that she didn’t bother to address him first.

“The paramedics took her to the hospital to get some stitches and make sure she didn’t have a concussion from the blow to the head. Don’t worry, it’s only a precaution.” Happy smiled warily at Scarlett, but the expression faded from his face when Tony turned in his suit to shoot his driver an aggravated glance.

“Any word from the hospital? Does she have a concussion?” Scarlett made a point to continue ignoring Tony, even though he came closer to her in the battered suit and attempted to obstruct her view of Happy. He clearly had a few choice words for her, but Scarlett didn’t care. If he was going to be a pompous asshole then she wasn’t going to bother with him. He’d been the cause of more aggravation that day that he was worth.

“She’ll be fine. I’ve already got a car picking her up since she’s finished up in the Emergency Room.” Tony answered for his driver. “Go upstairs, Happy.” The driver didn’t argue with Tony and instead hung his head and walked toward the door that would lead him upstairs and out of the room, avoiding eye contact with Scarlett.

The helmet of the Mark VII made a hissing sound as it opened and revealed the face of Tony Stark, his lip bloodied and his hair matted against his scalp with sweat. He was scowling, his brown eyes still sparkling with anger.

“What were you doing in Africa?” When Scarlett turned away from him, he grabbed her chin and forced her to look into his eyes. He expected to see anger in her eyes, but instead saw something that only confused him. She seemed hurt. Maybe it was another cruel trick of hers, to make him feel bad for simply trying to get the truth out of her. The men after her had nearly killed him and she expected him to feel bad about it.

“What?” Scarlett hadn’t expected him to ask that right off the bat. She’d expected him to give her a hard time about the computers she’d accessed and to ask what exactly she’d seen or to ask how she had manipulated his computer into letting her out of her room. Instead he was asking her again about what she’d been doing for MedCo. This information was still something she wasn’t willing to tell him or to anyone. Even if he wasn’t behind what had happened to her as she had initially suspected he was, it was none of his business. Part of her wasn’t ready to talk about the whole truth. It was easier to lie.

“I said, what were you doing in Africa that has these people so mad at you that they’re willing to kill my people to get to you?” Tony practically snarled at her. Scarlett grabbed the hand of the Mark VII that was latched onto her chin and shoved it away from her to the best of her abilities. Tony didn’t bother trying to keep his grip on her when she did so and let his arm fall to his side.

“I already told you that what happened to me down there was none of your business.” Scarlett chose her words wisely, trying not to further enrage Tony.

“Those men out there on the highway, those men in suits that Pepper said were looking for you…”

“They said they were looking for a woman not for me.” Scarlett corrected him hastily. “Get out of my face.” Turning away from him she took a deep breath and did her best to try to quell the anger that had taken her over earlier when they’d been arguing over the phone with him.

“Oh, what other woman would they be looking for, huh? It’s pretty convenient that I pick up a woman from the wreckage of some corrupt shadow company I’ve been searching for and less than twelve hours after you wake up my people are attacked by men looking for some woman.”

“Convenient? And how the hell do you think they would’ve located me so easily?” Scarlett spat, making sure not to look back at Tony. If she was close to him she might actually hurt him. Her hands were shaking again with rage. While she was sure that those people on the highway were actually looking for her since they weren’t after Pepper, she had just as many questions as Tony did. Tony didn’t respond and instead walked away from her in his suit. She heard the pistons of the Mark VII moving as he did so. It was oddly an intriguing sound, so Scarlett turned to watch.

“Jarvis, get it off of me.” Tony murmured. The yellow gantry came out of the ground and started to pry the Mark VII off of his body piece by piece. It wasn’t as simple to remove as it had been to put on considering some of the parts were now stuck together thanks to the attack that had nearly destroyed parts of the armor. “Careful, careful…” Tony’s shoulder was bloodied and the caked mess from his wound had caused pieces of the armor and his shirt to stick against the wounds he’d suffered. The skin around it had already started to visibly bruise. “For all I know, Scarlett, you tipped them off and told them where we were going for the night. Maybe that’s what you were doing when you ran away from me.”

“Excuse me?” Scarlett turned her gaze away from the gantry to face Tony then walked straight up to him. How could he think that she would do that to him? After all she’d been through with MedCo he thought that she was the one behind the attack? What would make him think that she would have any control on the very people that held her captive? Then again, it wasn’t like she’d shared much of her experience in captivity with him.

“For all I know you could still be working for those assholes in South Africa! How do I know you’re not one of them and trying to manipulate me?” Tony stepped away from the gantry once the pieces of the Mark VII had been removed entirely. Parts of shattered armor had fallen to the ground in a crumpled up heap on the platform. “Clean up the mess Jarvis and start repairs on the suit. Anything that’s too complex for your skills, set aside and I’ll repair it when I get the chance.”

“Working for them? Do you really think I’m working for them?” Scarlett was in complete disbelief. After the hell she’d been through between being trapped in Africa and waking up in her enemy’s home, after she’d finally managed to regain her level head she had to defend her moral standings? She had been working for MedCo but only because she’d had no other choices and even then she hadn’t actually built what they’d wanted her to build. The only way to clear her name would be to tell Tony what had really happened and Scarlett wasn’t prepared to do that.

For awhile she had been convinced that Tony had thought he’d found a kindred spirit who had gone through the hell of captivity that he’d experienced within her. While his initial assumptions about that had been well founded he now seemed to doubt the connection he’d found with her. What had shaken him so badly to make him forget what had drawn him to her in the first place? On top of that, why did it bother Scarlett so much?

“Jarvis, remind me to work on something to manually reboot from within the suit and to come up with some sort of shield against electromagnetic fields. I can’t let that happen again. We got lucky tonight.” Tony muttered, speaking to the computer overhead without looking up at it.

“Yes, sir.” The robot didn’t seem to be his usual perky self after what had transpired with Scarlett. Usually Tony was met with some sort of quirky response or clever retort but Jarvis seemed to know that he had gotten into hot water with his programmer. Or maybe he just knew better than to mess with Tony when he was as angry as he was. Scarlett guessed that this sort of outright anger from Tony was a rare occasion. He seemed more the type to make a joke out of serious situations.

“You caused the explosion that took down that building whether you admit it or not.” Tony approached Scarlett again, puffing out his chest in an attempt to look intimidating. Apparently he knew a lot more about what had happened inside the MedCo building than he’d let on. “That much I’m certain of. I did a lot of damage to that building, but the explosion that you set off? It was entirely different. How do I know you weren’t the one that double crossed them?”

“You pretentious son of a bitch…” Scarlett cursed, but didn’t back down. She wasn’t going to let him push her around. “You know what? Fine! You can believe what you want about what happened tonight. I did set off that explosion but only to try and escape from MedCo but the rest of what happened? You don’t need to know. I don’t know who the hell you think you are. Constantly making assumptions about me at every turn and when you find out one of them might not be right it’s my fault you jumped to conclusions?” Scoffing, Scarlett did her best not to clench her fists. If she did, she was afraid she might outright punch Tony in the face if he got close enough.

“Assumptions?” Tony spoke over her and muttered to himself while she ranted. “Well, I wouldn’t have to make assumptions about you if you’d tell me a single damn thing about yourself instead of holding all the information like it’s some kind of bargaining chip! Tell me what happened, Scarlett!” Tony approached her and was surprised when she backed away from him. Had he actually seemed threatening?

“No.” Scarlett shook her head without hesitation in response.

“What are you so afraid of? Why are you so terrified to tell me what happened to you? Are you afraid that I might judge you?” Tony sneered sardonically. He continued to approach her and she continued to back away to keep distance between them. But before Scarlett knew it she was backed up against his desk with nowhere left to go. Tony put his hands on either side of her and narrowed his eyes. Lowering his voice he continued. “My friends were nearly killed by these assholes that came chasing after you.”

“Back off,” Scarlett hissed. Her lip was twitching with anger and it was taking all of her willpower not to dig her fingers into his wounded shoulder and show him just what she was made of.

“If you don’t confess what it was you were doing in Africa or what you say they were making you do over there, if that’s even the case at all, then I’ll hand you over to the police and let them handle it. I’m tired of your games! This isn’t a game, there are lives in the balance and you’re going to let people get killed! And for what? Your ego? You talk about mine like I’m the scum of the earth, but you’re just as bad.” Tony threatened. He had no intentions of handing her over to the police, but he was hoping that it would instill some sort of fear within her and compel her to talk about what she’d been through. He didn’t actually think she’d been behind what had happened, but after nearly dying he was panicked enough to use it as leverage.

Heart racing, Scarlett knew she had to get out of the corner she’d been forced into. If she gave up everything she had to offer, what would stop him from turning her over to the police in the first place? She knew that they couldn’t charge her for the crimes she’d committed in South Africa but if Tony convinced them that she was guilty of some sort of international espionage then the FBI could take over her case and she could be held prisoner. Why had she told him about what she’d done in Japan? One concrete case would unravel her past and she’d be locked away for the rest of her life! Fear had gripped her but something else Tony had said had struck a much stronger nerve.

“Letting people get killed? Stark! I saved your life! Or did you forget that already?” Scarlett shoved him away from being practically on top of her and escaped where she’d been pinned on the desk. “You know what? You can go rot in hell! This isn’t a game to me either, you know! You keep talking to me like we’re playing some intricate game of chess. Well, you know what? If we are, you should know better than to straight on attack the Queen with your pawn.” Turning still to face him, but making sure he couldn’t pin her down anywhere else, Scarlett continued her angry rant only to be interrupted by Tony.

“Chess? What, now I’m the one treating this like a game?”

“You got yourself into trouble tonight. You did. Not me. You locked me up in that damn guest room and told me that I couldn’t help because I’m a woman and I must not be able to protect myself in a dangerous situation, right? You locked me up when I wanted to help you! You walked right into danger to go and save your friends from some unknown threat.” Scarlett laid out the facts right in front of him. There was no proof that MedCo had sent someone after her. The more she thought about it the more farfetched the theory seemed. “For all you know Stark, they were after you!”

“Pepper told us they were after you! How many times do I have to tell you that?”

“I believe what Pepper actually said was that they were after a woman and you affiliate with so many sleazy bitches how do you know it’s not one of them? How do you know it wasn’t some kind of trick being played on you? Maybe someone was looking for you at the club that night. Maybe someone saw us together and thought I was a soft spot so they could get to you using whatever floozy was hanging on your arm at the time! Use your brain instead of your dick for twenty seconds and maybe you’ll see what’s right in front of you. You don’t know it was me they were after and neither do I. If I had come with you then maybe I could’ve told you if I recognized them but instead you kept me trapped upstairs when all I wanted to do was help you!”

“That’s bullshit and you know it.” Tony ran his hand through his sweaty hair to keep it from sticking further to his scalp. “They’re not after me! It’s too convenient, just way too damn convenient that you’re here and now they’re looking for a woman who isn’t Pepper! I will not have you putting my friends in jeopardy.”

“Me? I’m the one putting your friends in jeopardy? Stark, are you out of your mind?” Scarlett couldn’t help but laugh, though she found little to no humor in the situation. Getting closer to him she pointed an accusing finger close to his face. “Every day you continue this super hero bullshit you put everyone you love in jeopardy so don’t lecture me about putting people in danger. I keep to myself for a reason. If you want to pull that guilt crap on me Tony then go look in the damn mirror and find who’s really to blame here.” Clearly she had struck a nerve. Hurt was written all over Tony’s face but only for a second.

Quickly he masked his wound with frustration. Letting his tongue brush over his bottom lip, he laughed under his breath then turned away from her and walked around his desk. Sitting down in his desk chair he grabbed the stress ball off of his desk and gave it a squeeze.

“Jarvis, download the data from the fight out on the highway.” Tony had to admit that Scarlett had a few valid points, if nothing else. There was no way to know that the men he’d fought had actually been after her. They had never asked for Scarlett by name, but they had told him it wasn’t him they were after when he’d come face to face with them. Closing his eyes he waited for the telltale signals of his computer getting him what he wanted. If he could get video from the attack then he could find out the make, model and license plate on the black SUV that he’d thrown down the hill.
“Sir, I’m afraid the damage done
to the Mark VII’s drives are far too extensive to retrieve any further data from than what has already been extracted. When Miss Damien rebooted your systems to save your life, the previous files were overwritten. All that’s left is what I extracted from your mainframe and the anomalies Miss Damien highlighted within them.” Cursing under his breath, Tony wiped his face with his grease covered hand. He couldn’t get mad at Scarlett for having rebooted his systems. If she hadn’t done it, he would’ve died. In fact, while he’d been trying to hotwire his suit from the inside to get it up and running again he’d started thinking of what his funeral would be like.

“Damnit, thanks for trying Jarvis. Keep that data on screen for me.” Tony leaned forward in his chair, opened his eyes, and then scanned his garage. He spotted the dent in the classic convertible and immediately jumped out of his seat. “What happened to my car? Damnit!” Tony hurried out of his chair and walked over to the hot rod. He knelt down next to it, gently brushing his fingers over the scrape on the paint and the clear dent that had been made.

“That was me.” Scarlett sat on the edge of the desk, emotionally exhausted from the long day she’d spent with Tony Stark.

“Why the hell would you do that? Do you know how much it costs to repair one of these?” Tony sounded angry, but was pouting. “You’ll pay for the damage you caused.”

“Fine, whatever you want. I don’t care.” Scarlett shrugged. “It’s your own fault for the record. You trapped me in here with no way to get out and no way to vent my frustrations. I saved your life and you trapped me for the third time against my will since I’ve met you.”

“My life only needed saving because those men were coming after you.” Tony turned away from his car. It could be fixed and repainted but it would be an expensive process. At least Scarlett seemed willing to pay for the damage she’d inflicted on the precious vehicle. He was upset that she’d dented it but understood her need to vent her frustration.

“Oh will you cut it out?” Scarlett couldn’t help but laugh at how ridiculous this argument had become. The guilt in her stomach still churned, but the argument had started to go in circles. They were both far too stubborn to ever admit they could be wrong.

“You can deny it all you want Scarlett, but we both know it’s the truth.” Tony cursed about his car again under his breath but tried to shake the anger that had overcome him. The initial rage had finally faded and left him confused and worried. Scarlett had given him a lot to think about, even if he didn’t think there was a chance that the men he’d met with were after him.

“Think about it, Stark. If they were after me and not Iron Man then why would they have brought an electromagnetic amplifier with them? It’s not like that’d affect me in any way. Why would they use weapons specifically to disable you?” This actually made Tony consider his standpoint. Why had his attackers been prepared for Iron Man when coming after Scarlett? And how did they know that she was with him at all? They’d only been out in public for a very short amount of time. It was true that they could have known she’d been taken by Iron Man out of the desert, but how did they pinpoint her location so easily? He didn’t actually think she had been willingly working for MedCo. Now that he was thinking clearly, he felt guilty for having turned her captivity around on her.

If anyone had accused him of having purposely gotten himself taken in Afghanistan he wasn’t sure how he would react. While she wasn’t acting it, he was sure that he’d more than caused her some pain.

While Tony had started to doubt the motives of the men who had attacked him, Scarlett knew they had to have been searching for her. While she had no proof that it had been the men from MedCo, she was nearly positive that it was the only plausible reason for the attack. She’d hoped that when she’d been taken away by Tony Stark, maybe MedCo would stop looking for her. This only supported her theory that Tony wasn’t in bed with the people from MedCo. Why would his own subsidiary company have attacked him? It didn’t add up.

But Scarlett wasn’t so willing to believe that Tony’s hands were clean of what had happened to her and to Scott. There was still the chance that the company had betrayed Tony and had still been funded by him. Either way, she wasn’t willing to give up the details of what had happened to her in South Africa quite yet, not without proof that he hadn’t been behind what had turned so violent in the first place.

“Fine, you have a point.” Tony finally admitted and walked back to the desk where Scarlett was sitting. She looked upset and lost in thought upon closer inspection. He felt guilty, but wasn’t willing to apologize or admit he was wrong. “I don’t think they were after me Scarlett, but you’re right. I have no proof they were after you either. I’ll bill you for the car.”

“Once I get my bank information it won’t be a big deal.” Scarlett knew she had plenty of money to handle the damage she’d done. The jobs she’d taken before MedCo had been incredibly fruitful. It had never been about the money for her, it had always been about the thrill even if the money had been a nice perk. Scarlett knew someday it’d allow her to live more than comfortably for the rest of her days, but as of right now she had no need for a home.

“You should go upstairs and get some rest. You look exhausted.” Tony turned his gaze away from her and looked down at his hands as he messed with the stress ball in his palm. Scarlett nodded to agree and folded her arms over her chest. Now that they weren’t screaming at each other the room was tense and uncomfortable.

What she hadn’t realized was that the anger Tony had expressed seemed to be out of betrayal. Now that she saw the calm returning to him, she could tell that he was just as hurt as she’d been when he screamed at her for saving his life. Naturally this had deflated the anger she’d been feeling toward him. Finally, she was sure she wasn’t going to lash out at him physically.

“Yeah, I probably should. Goodnight Stark.” Scarlett stepped away from the desk and turned toward the door of his lab. Stopping in front of it as it opened, she felt the guilt renewed. He’d helped her when she’d been wounded and she was sure he was simply going to sit bloodied up in front of his computer trying to repair his suit until he passed out from exhaustion.

Tony sat down in his computer chair and started to pick at the wound on his shoulder. He winced and immediately gave up on it when it started to sting in objection. Getting hurt had never bothered him but the cleanup had always been more than a pain. Pepper had always taken care of minor wounds he’d suffered but even then only after he’d been cornered by her or had enough to drink that he wouldn’t feel the pain. Pepper had tried to insist he should go to the hospital with her when the paramedics had arrived, but he’d been too angry and wanted to use the nerve he’d built up to try and get something useful out of Scarlett so he’d refused.

Turning back around Scarlett put a hand on her hip and sighed heavily. While she wasn’t his biggest fan at the moment, Scarlett couldn’t leave him bleeding and pathetic. Besides, the fight with him had left her feeling unsettled. Her mind kept wandering to the fun they’d had in the restaurant together. It couldn’t have all been a game. Even she wasn’t that good of a liar and she knew that there was no way Tony Stark was. In fact, she was sure he was a pretty terrible liar. Why would he have to lie when he had enough money to deal with the consequences of his every action?

“What?” Tony didn’t look up from his computer, instead searching through the anomalies that Scarlett had pulled aside. As mad as he was that Jarvis had let her into the computer system, he was intrigued by what she’d accomplished in such a short time. When given the chance, she hadn’t hacked into his system for her own selfish reasons and hadn’t even tried to get into his personal data. Instead, she’d tried her damndest to help him out in any way she could think of. The work she’d done in the time she’d done it was remarkable.

In fact, Tony was sure the only other person he knew who could do that amount of work in such a time crunch was him. Any other computer engineer would’ve failed horribly and left him to die. Even more remarkable was the fact that she hadn’t punched him right in the face after he’d behaved the way that he had. The more he reflected on his behavior he considered that he might have punched himself in the face if given the opportunity. Maybe everything they’d been through hadn’t been the clever ruse he had thought it was. Perhaps the simple truth had been staring him right in the face. She’d wanted to help him.

“You’re bleeding.” Scarlett finally spoke while she took a few steps toward him. She couldn’t leave him there bloody and in pain, as much as she thought he deserved it. If the men had been after her, then it was her fault he was bleeding in the first place. This newfound conscience was going to be the end of her. She’d always had a generally good willed moral compass but before she’d worked for MedCo she definitely would’ve offered to salt Tony’s wound.

“I don’t care.” Tony shrugged and winced, then pouted at the pain he felt. It was the first sign of humor that Scarlett had seen since he’d returned. She was grateful that he hadn’t completely shut off to her.

“You’re pathetic.” Scarlett did her best to sound playful. Walking over to where Tony was sitting in his chair she reached underneath the desk and retrieved the first aid kit she’d used to change the wound on her arm while she’d been locked alone waiting for him to return. Tony grabbed her arm and noticed the new bandaging.

“What happened?” His insides churned. Had she hurt herself trying to break out of the room? Or worse, had she hurt herself in her attempts to save him?

“It’s nothing.” Scarlett pulled her arm away and avoided eye contact. Tony deserved the silent treatment for the accusations he’d made and she planned on giving it to him. He tried to tug on her arm again but she swatted his hand away playfully. Unable to help but smile, he found he was finally able to break the angry tension.

“Still feisty, even after I threatened to send you to prison.” Tony chuckled and leaned back in his chair. Scarlett stopped opening the first aid kit, sat on the desk near Tony, closed the kit and rested both her hands on top of it. She gave him a look that clearly warned him against bringing up what had made her so frustrated with him to begin with. “Sorry, sorry… It’s really fine. I’ll get a doctor to look at it later.” Tony waved her off and turned away from her again.

Scarlett hooked her foot in the arm of Tony’s chair and spun him to face her again. Surprised by the action, Tony allowed the chair to spin around even though he could’ve just as easily stopped it with his feet.

“You’re not going to leave and get any rest until I let you do this, are you?” Scarlett didn’t speak, and instead just watched Tony’s reactions in amusement. Tony sighed, braided his fingers together and leaned back in his chair, judging her silence with pursed lips. Why couldn’t he figure her out? Every time he thought he had her pegged something happened that made him doubt what he’d learned. Then when he finally hardened up to her, he realized that maybe his initial thoughts about her had been correct. Why couldn’t he make up his mind? She was hot then she was cold and everything in between.

It was incredibly dangerous, and Tony had always had the need for danger in his life, whether or not he liked to admit it. Scarlett opened the first aid kit again when he didn’t respond and pulled out some antiseptic and a few cloths to clean his wounds with. The one on his shoulder was nasty looking, and might have even needed a few stitches, but the one on his forehead was nothing but a small bump. There was a cut on his lip, but it looked like most of the blood had been wiped away by sweat.

“Fine… Fine, you know if you wanted to take care of me then you should have just said something. I didn’t realize you saved me because you liked me so damn much.” Scarlett put down the antiseptic in her lap and cocked an eyebrow curiously. “Too much?” Tony laughed. Scarlett hated to say it but it was good to see a smile on his face again. Anger didn’t suit his playful nature.

Deciding not to dignify his ridiculousness with a response, Scarlett instead tugged the chair closer to him with her foot and spun him so that his left shoulder was closer to her.

“You’re not going to talk to me are you?” Tony watched her out of the corner of his eye while he reached past her and fiddled with the screen nearby. She swatted his hands away from the computer and then picked up the cloth with the antiseptic on it. “Fine, but be gentle. I’m sensitive.”

Ignoring his quips, Scarlett reached to dab at the wound on his forehead but made an audible sound of annoyance when he leaned his head out of the way before the cloth touched his skin.

“You know, I really can just pay someone else to do this.” Scarlett slumped her shoulders and narrowed her eyes at him. “Particularly if you’re going to go out of your way to cause me pain… I mean I’m not a masochist, this isn’t sexy.” Tony pouted his bottom lip as she glared at him. “Though, I could be into a little pain. You know women don’t usually try to take the reins with me…”

Grabbing onto his jaw, half to stop his talking and half to keep him from moving, Scarlett urged him to look at her and held him in place with her left hand. Taking the cloth once again in her right hand she brought it up to the spot on Tony’s head. He winced before the cloth even touched the wound.

Scarlett gave him a skeptical look of disapproval and Tony gave her the best smile he could manage with her hands on his face in such a way. He watched her thoughtful blue eyes and couldn’t help but wonder what she really wanted to say to him, because clearly there was a lot going on in her head. Maybe if he kept harassing her he could get her to talk. What he really should’ve done was simply apologize for being an asshole, but that would require admitting that he could’ve been wrong and a little rash about how he’d gone about dealing with the situation and he wasn’t sure he was capable of doing so.

When the antiseptic met the scrape on his head that he’d gotten from smacking it on the inside of his visor, he saw stars for a moment. His temples began to throb and his head steadily pounded in irritation. Gingerly, Scarlett brushed the cloth over the wound and cleaned up the small scrape. It wasn’t severe enough to even need a bandage and she was sure the blood would clot up quickly enough for a scab to form before the blood started flowing the way it had upon the initial blow.

With a second cloth she wiped away the excess blood from his face along with a bit of dirt from the tip of his nose. Tony scrunched up his face, much like an antsy child when she did so. She couldn’t help but smile just slightly when she pulled the filthy cloth away. Tony shook his head and then rubbed his jaw after she’d let go.

“You know, I would’ve sat still eventually if you’d just given me the chance. You didn’t have to manhandle me.” Pouting again, Tony looked up at her with that devious gaze he often had when he was about to make a raunchy joke.

“No…” Scarlett whispered and warned him against it.

“No what? Give me more than that Scarlett. I can’t not make a joke about manhandling you…” Laughing, Tony rolled away in his chair when she pulled out a pair of shears so she could snip away the bloodied part of his sleeve. “Oh you are so not going to use those on me. I do not trust you with sharp objects.”

Scarlett threw her hands up in annoyance. He was ridiculous. How did he ever get anything done? Coming up with an idea, she then gave him her best seductive look, biting her lip in the process. Curling her index finger in a rather come hither manner, she batted her eyelashes at him and hoped to lure him over.

“That’s just evil.” Tony stayed at the opposite end of the desk. “No scissors.” Holding up one hand, he seemed to be making the terms of some kind of deal that would allow her to continue working on his wounds. The anger between the two had melted back into the playful tension they’d worked up in the restaurant and while neither would admit it, they were both relieved to have it back.

Holding up a finger to mock her silence, Tony unbuttoned his dress shirt from dinner and slipped it off, whining when the crusted parts that were stuck in the bloody mess of his wound pulled away. The wound started to bleed again when Tony irritated it. Reaching down once again he took a deep breath and pulled off his white undershirt. Tossing it aside he cursed under his breath and spun in his chair to work off the feeling of discomfort from how the cloth stuck to the bloodied wound.

Scarlett was surprised by how bright the arc reactor was. She wondered in silence if he had to wear dark shirts to bed so that he wouldn’t wake himself up with it. While she would admit that it was nice to look at Tony Stark without his shirt on, since it was obvious he kept himself in fighting condition to be Iron Man, she wasn’t going to let it get to her. She’d seen bigger stronger men than him in little else than their birthday suits and she wasn’t going to give Tony the satisfaction of it startling her to see him.

Not that it did, she definitely wouldn’t admit that. But it definitely wasn’t doing her any favors to have him shirtless and bloodied up in front of her. There was little sexier than a man after a fight, other than a man covered in grease after getting his hands dirty all day. Shaking away that renegade thoughts, Scarlett tapped her fingers impatiently against the desk.

“Whoa. Nothing, huh?” Tony leaned back in his chair, thoroughly impressed that she hadn’t reacted to him in the slightest. Her eyes hadn’t even wandered to the reactor in his chest. She was harder to read than he wished she was. Rolling back toward her in the chair, he tugged on her leg.

“You know, I’d definitely react if you were in front of me half naked…” Tony urged, hoping to at least fish a compliment out of her. She smiled and shook her head, then grabbed onto his good shoulder to urge him closer. Grabbing onto both her legs, Tony attempted to pull her into his lap.

“Stark…” Scarlett yelped, but not because of how he was pulling her, instead from how he’d grabbed right onto the bandage beneath her dress.

“Oh damn! Damnit, I forgot that was there.” Tony pulled his hands away, pouted, and patted the spot on her thigh carefully as if to apologize for having grabbed her there. “Is it alright? I didn’t… make it bleed or anything?” Tony tugged at the bottom of her skirt to try and look at the wrapping of her wound. Swatting at his hand she took a deep breath and shook her head.

“It’s fine.”

“She speaks!” Tony gasped dramatically then started to tug at her waistline to pull her into his lap. “Come on, you’ll have an easier time with this if you’re in my lap.”

Scarlett laughed but didn’t respond and merely swatted his hands away from her waist again. There was no way she was going to fall for that. Somehow she knew that if she moved into his lap there was no way she was going to leave it with her clothing intact. She shook her head no and grabbed both of his hands in hers. Tony did his best to look pleading and innocent but was apparently failing because by the time she gave his hands a squeeze and let them go he was grinning from ear to ear.

“I’ll get you at some point, you know…” Tony laughed. Grabbing her ankles, he at least urged her feet to stay on either side of him in the chair. Scarlett straightened her legs so he couldn’t look up her skirt and then started to look over his shoulder. Knowing it was going to hurt, Tony braced himself, resting his hands on either side of Scarlett on the desk. Allowing him this small comfort, Scarlett started wiping the excess dirt and blood away from the wound.

Setting down the cloth, she reached for a set of tweezers and then started to touch the ends of the wounds. Tony cursed and hung his head, closing his eyes to fight off the pain he was feeling from the way she was cleaning the deep cut on his shoulder. Scarlett finally found what she was looking for and pulled out a few pieces of the crushed metal from the Mark VII suit. Setting them on the desk, she resumed cleaning up the wound with one of the cloths.

Tony was still hanging his head and looking too miserable to make any snide comments about what she was doing. She patted him gently on his good shoulder then continued to clean at the cut that had looked far nastier than it actually was. The wound wasn’t very deep so Scarlett was relieved when she found she wasn’t going to have to stitch him up. She bound the wound tightly after putting some antiseptic and numbing agent over it, then taped the gauze closed. When she finished, her hands were bloodied and Tony was still hanging his head near her leg.

He looked like he needed some comfort and while Scarlett contemplated simply getting up and leaving him to mope she felt a twisting discomfort in her stomach. How many times had she sat alone after stitching herself up after a mission and wished that Scott would’ve held her or helped her out? How many times had she been told it was her own fault for being reckless and felt so miserable she’d gone out drinking? How many times had Tony felt the same way and drank himself to sleep after a night of trying to save the world one villain at a time?

Unsure of how to go about comforting him, she gently patted him on the back of the head. Much to her surprise, Tony wrapped his arms around her middle and scooted closer to her in his rolling chair. He rested his head against her stomach and kept his eyes closed. He was grateful that she’d chosen to help him even though he’d been so rotten to her throughout the night. Why was she still aiding him? At first he was sure it was because she wanted to watch him squirm around in pain as revenge for having been so harsh on her, but now that she was comforting him he was unsure.

He’d sought out comfort in the past but had never been very good at asking for it. After having been taken hostage in Afghanistan his entire life had changed. He didn’t know how to tell the people around him that he was in trouble and needed a life vest. Everyone had thought he’d handled it just fine and when he’d continued to struggle he’d been misinterpreted and left to his own destructive thoughts.

Having expected Scarlett to shove him off of her and to make some quip about him trying to get close to her or rub against her, he was surprised when she wrapped her arms around him and simply patted him on the back comfortingly. She wasn’t particularly good at offering comfort but it was enough that she tried. After a long moment, Tony lessened his grip and looked up at her.

There were a thousand different ways he was sure he could turn this moment into a sexual innuendo but none of the words seemed to pop into his head. Scarlett watched him curiously and wondered if he was alright. Maybe he had a concussion from when he’d hit his head in the suit. Deciding it had been more than enough time for him to come to grips with what he’d been through, Scarlett grabbed him by his chin again, looked him over to check if he had a concussion, then smacked him on the cheek playfully.

“Good as new, asshole.” Scarlett smiled then spun his chair around with her foot and slipped off of the desk. Her heart was thundering in her chest again just as it had been in the restaurant. Why couldn’t she just be as mad at him as she had been when she’d first woken up that morning? How had things gotten so terribly complicated in such a short amount of time? Even when he gave her good reason to despise him she’d somehow turned it around in her mind to feel pity for him.

Tony laughed a little in disbelief and watched her as she started to walk away. Getting up from his seat, he grabbed her wrist before he’d realized that he’d done it. Why couldn’t he let her walk away that easily?

“Wait, Scarlett…” Pulling her back to him, Tony caught her when she nearly stumbled in her heels.

“How come you keep nearly knocking me over?” Scarlett straightened herself up and was surprised when Tony tucked her messy hair behind her ear and out of her vision. Her playful smile completely faded as he simply stared at her. He seemed to want to say or do something but couldn’t find the words or the actions that were needed.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Tony tilted his head to the side and urged her a little closer to him. Her lips had gotten so close to his but he was resisting kissing them. Why was he so tentative about something he’d been so sure of earlier in the night? The danger had intrigued him hours ago but now, now there was something he was far more aware of than he’d been earlier.

“You called me Tony…” He couldn’t help but smile, resting his hand on her cheek. Scarlett resisted leaning into the touch and tried to recall when she’d slipped. She realized that when they’d been arguing back and forth on the phone and she’d been worried that he wasn’t okay, she’d slipped and used his real name.

“You can’t prove that…” Scarlett said after a moment. Tony exhaled loudly and laughed under his breath.

“You’re right, I can’t…” Tony shook his head, moistened his lips slowly then leaned closer to her. “It wouldn’t be so bad if we…”

“It’s a terrible idea.” Scarlett whispered but didn’t take her eyes away from his.

“I know, but it could also be a good idea… maybe…” Tony tugged her ever closer, his arm firmly around her waist now, the other hand still wrapped around her wrist. When had he done that? When had he pulled her body so close against his? How had she let him do it?

Scarlett decided she was going to let him kiss her. She’d had ample time to run away, to pull from his arms but she had made the calculated decision to let him get it over with. The pretense of it actually happening was damn near killing her. Maybe she would kiss him and nothing would happen. Maybe he would fall short and the tension would die out and she could continue with business as usual. At least she could hope that would be what happened.

Tony hesitated but only for a moment. The nagging doubt in his mind was something new for him. He’d never been afraid to kiss someone before. But then again, he’d never exactly been in this sort of situation before. Deciding to bite the bullet and go for it, he leaned close enough to kiss her.

Jarvis spoke overhead interrupting them both in their thoughts.

“Miss Potts is home and on her way downstairs.” Scarlett immediately pulled out of Tony’s grasp. Tony simply stared at the spot she’d been standing in and stuck his tongue between his lips, trying to quiet the three thousand vocal and physical objections he’d had to her pulling away. Closing his eyes he took a deep breath and thought about how Pepper has become the biggest cock block on the planet in the last twelve hours.

Before he could say anything, and before Scarlett could try to break the awkward silence, the door to the lab opened. Pepper came slowly down the stairs, smiled to see Tony and was even more excited to see Scarlett there. She was blissfully unaware of what had been happening before her arrival.

Going over to the woman, Pepper gave her a tight hug. Tony cocked a curious eyebrow and watched the exchange with amusement.

“Thank you so much.” Pepper couldn’t find the proper words to express her gratitude. “I know I doubted you and I made that clear when I first called but you really came through for all of us today. If you hadn’t jumped into action then Tony would’ve died and us likely along with him. You really proved your worth tonight.” Pepper pulled away and then cleared her throat and looked over at Tony.

“Are you done with your… lady crush moment here?” Tony pointed between the two, trying to disguise his discomfort with amusement.

“Rude.” Pepper pursed her lips then turned back to Scarlett. “I hope he apologized for his behavior earlier.”

“Um, no he didn’t actually.” Scarlett glanced over at Tony for a moment. Had this been any other moment she would’ve harassed Tony about an apology, using Pepper as her defense but instead she simply wanted to run away as quickly as possible. Now that the moment where he’d nearly kissed her a second time had passed, she was feeling rather sick to her stomach and confused.

“Well, he probably won’t. But I’m sorry for him if it means anything.” Pepper gave Scarlett a comforting pat on the arm.

“That’s alright. I get why he was so mad at me.”

“Really? Because I don’t understand it at all.” Pepper furrowed her brow then laughed. When neither one of them laughed with her she looked between them then around the room. Scarlett’s hands were bloody and it’d taken Pepper a few minutes to realize Tony was without his shirt. “Was I… interrupting something?” Pepper made a motion between the two.

“Scarlett was just helping me out with my shoulder.” Tony shrugged his shoulder and rotated it, all too aware that he was now walking around half dressed. It hadn’t been in his mind to get his shirt back on when he’d been trying to pull Scarlett back to his lips. In fact, until Pepper had arrived it was working to his advantage.

“I told you that you should’ve gone to the hospital with me Tony. That was too nasty to take care of on your own.” Pepper scolded in a mothering tone.

“Honestly, I was just going to wait for you to take care of it when you got back.” Tony grinned childishly then started toward the two women.

“Oh, because I would’ve been able to handle that severe a wound. You’re lucky that it looks like Scarlett knows what she’s doing.”

“He is lucky.” Scarlett added in. “You hear that? You’re lucky.” A playful smirk on her face, Scarlett was hoping she could shake the awkward tension that Pepper was obviously picking up on.

“I don’t like you two getting along.” Tony chuckled and walked past the two, toward the door of the lab.

“Get over it.” Pepper rolled her eyes. “I don’t have a concussion by the way, thanks for asking.”

“Oh, good. So you can still work tomorrow?” Tony smirked.

“I hate to interrupt…” Scarlett cleared her throat. “But I think I’m going to head upstairs and go to bed. I’m… exhausted.” The last thing she wanted was to be left alone with Tony after Pepper had decided to go lay down. If Scarlett left now, then Tony and Pepper would be left alone and she wouldn’t be forced into another close call driven by her hormones.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.” Tony nodded quickly. He didn’t want her to go upstairs by herself, but he was still incredibly confused by his sudden hesitation in the face of a sexual situation. Not to mention he was frustrated that Pepper had stopped them a second time when they’d gotten so close.

“You must be drained. What a long day, right? Your first day conscious here and you’ve had to deal with him and, well, all of this chaos tonight.” Pepper laughed. “You deserve some rest.”

“Well, I plan on getting it.”

“Hey, Scarlett?” Tony walked over to hold open the door to the lab for her, leaning against it casually.

“What now, Stark?” Scarlett was wary of what he was going to say to her.

“Thanks.” Tony nodded toward his shoulder and the job she’d done wrapping it. “For helping me out even though I was being a baby about it.”

Scarlett walked toward the door, stopped in front of it then leaned over and smacked Tony’s ass and hard too. He jumped nearly a mile and looked at her with wide eyes.

“You’re welcome.” Scarlett started to walk away and then looked over her shoulder at him. “That was payback for earlier, by the way.” Walking up the stairs and back to the guest room she’d become so incredibly acquainted with, she decided that the night hadn’t been a complete waste after all.

Tony couldn’t help but smirk as he turned against the door to watch Scarlett walk up the stairs. She wasn’t running away from him, she’d made that more than perfectly clear. He had half a mind to follow her upstairs to the guest room but thought better of it.

“What was that all about earlier?” Pepper laughed, looking completely confused but somewhat entertained.

“I smacked her ass earlier.” Tony shrugged his shoulders then nearly jumped a mile when Pepper smacked him on his wounded shoulder. Dramatically he whined and whimpered and then held his shoulder and pouted.

“God, you’re lucky she has a good sense of humor. You’re going to end up getting sued, or worse Tony. I wouldn’t be surprised if she kicked your ass.” Pepper started out the door then up the stairs. “Get some sleep Tony.” She ordered without turning around.

“Oh, I will.” Tony watched Pepper walk upstairs then leaned against the glass door of his lab. Closing his eyes he took a few deep breaths to try and absorb everything that had transpired. Somehow he knew that he would get very little sleep at all. Instead of heading upstairs, he walked back into his lab, prepared to work on his suit until it was repaired.